Coreuption
by Manchita1
Summary: The sequel to Newbodies. Who kidnapped GLaDOS, what do they want, and how will GLaDOS be rescued? Yes, there is Chelley. Make sure you read Newbodies first!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1- You're Gonna Test**

"So...what now?" Wheatley sniffed, tears slowly running down his cheeks.

"We go back, that's what," Galaxa murmured.

As they turned to leave, there was a muffled WHAM! from the shed and they whipped around. "Is she coming back?" cried Wheatley hopefully, and threw the door open.

Instead, the elevator's floor was missing and they could hear yells of defiance that sounded like...

"GLaDOS?" gasped Ralph, then shuddered at the name.

"She's in trouble!" cried Wheatley, his face of sorrow replaced by one of panic. "What do we do?"

In response, Chell committed another of her crazy acts: she suddenly sprinted toward the elevator and jumped. Wheatley yelled and grabbed her by the leg before she could fall down the shaft. But as he wasn't very strong, he slpped and Rick had to take his place as leg holder. But all that weight was too much for him, and Galaxa replaced him. Soon all of them except Ralph were hanging by Galaxa's foot, which was hooked around the ground that dropped once it reached the shaft. "Ralph!" Rick called. "Help!"

Ralph was hanging back, unsure of what to do. If he held on and they fell anyway (which was likely) he'd have to go back...

Galaxa's foot began to slip. "Oh God!" emanated from the shaft in Wheatley's voice.

"Stop dawdling and help!" Galaxa shouted back at Ralph, who flinched at the volume.

And then her foot lost hold.

Everyone screamed, except Chell, since she was incapable of doing so. Ralph hesitated, then mindlessly ran and jumped down after them. He was going to regret this, wasn't he?...

* * *

Even from her cage GLaDOS could hear the screams of her frie- uh, companions- on their way down. Her captor turned around, surprised, as they landed face first on the floor. "What the-?" She whirled to face GLaDOS. "Do you know them?"

"Yesm actually. I called them. They're a team of expert hackers and they're here to disable you."

Her enemy faced them in alarm, until Wheatley's head stuck up from underneath the pile. "Ow...My head feels all funny inside. Is that normal?" The machine turned to GLaDOS once more.

"I don't think so."

"Oh, yeah?" Rick yelled, jumping up. "We'll beat you to a metal pulp!"

In response, a laster fired and hit the ground three inches away from him. The robot turned to them.

"My name is GLaDOS2," she said. "I'm the new and improved HER." She gestured to GLaDOS, who waved to the others.

"Don't seem very improved to me," muttered Galaxa.

"Yes, well, you'll see. All of you will. I'm putting you in testing; you'll know me well then."

Suddenly hysterical, almost unsettling laughter came from GLaDOS's cage. "Testing? Pffft, they aren't good test subjects!"

"Would you care to explain WHY?"

GLaDOS began to point to each of them. "Moron, equally moronic, aggressive, sulky, dangerous mute lunatic."

"You're lying."

"I AM NOT."

"Well, fine. I'll put them in testing anyway." Multiple claws reached down and grabbed the five friends. "Separately." At this their eyes widened. Chell and Wheatley reached for each others' hands. Galaxa and Rick did the same. "Aw, how adorable. You love each other, don't you?"

They all looked up to glare at her.

"I don't care."

She took each of them to tubes, and with them yelling in protest, dropped them down. "Let's see how bold they are now, shall we?"

* * *

"Oof!" wheezed Wheatley as he fell into the test chamber. "You could've dropped me a little softer!" he yelled up at the ceiling.

"Be quiet. Now, the testing will begin."

A portal gun dropped unceremoniously from the ceiling. "Aw, come on! Even I'M better at being evil than you!"

"I said, shut up. I don't care what you think." But she did sound a bit irked.

Wheatley looked around. A cube lay in one corner of the room. A button lay on the other. He smirked. "You insult my intelligence." He looked back and forth between the two elements. "Hmmm...maybe if I shoot a portal there...and then- no, uh..."

GLaDOS2 sighed. "Well, as I can see this is going to take you a long time, I'll get back to you later."

And then she was gone. Wheatley furrowed his brow. This was a difficult test indeed...

* * *

Galaxa was in the third room. "I saw how well you solved those tests. You should be very-"

"Shut up, you oversized scrap pile," Galaxa retorted, looking up. She sneered with contempt. "You think you can be like Her. Think again."

"What's so different about us?"

"She feels emotion."

"HA! A weakness."

"True. Sometimes." Then she thought of Rick and her eyes softened. "But sometimes it's your greatest strength."

"You're as much of a little girl as you were before."

"Ha, what do you know?" She looked around the test chamber for a door.

"Have you ever considered...working for me?"

Galaxa could feel her heat rising. She turned red with anger. "What makes you think I would EVER work for you?" she growled, shooting a portal to knock a camera off the wall.

"Because I know something you don't."

"What? Nuclear physics?"

"Who you are."

Galaxa froze.

* * *

"So, what's the situation?" Rick asked himself, peering around the test chamber, looking for danger. "All right! Acid pit!" he exclaimed, running to the edge of the pit. "I wish I could soar over that, just for thrills!"

All of a sudden, panels moved and rearranged themselves, so Rick could jump down to one portal, come zooming out the other, fly over the acid, and land on an island, safe from harm. "Go ahead," said GLaDOS2.

Rick raised an eyebrow. "Alright, what gives?"

"Nothing."

"Sure, so you're gonna grant my every wish. I want to skip this chamber."

The door opened on its own. Rick cautiously went up to it. Then he jumped through quickly. The door remained open. "Why?" Rick asked, shocked at the test monitor's generosity.

"I find you very...interesting."

Interesting? What the heck did that mean? Rick decided he didn't want to know.

"In fact," began GLaDOS2, "I've got a surprise for you at the end of testing."

Rick gulped. Would he survive the surprise?...

* * *

Ralph was beyond everyone aforementioned, almost at the end of the course. "Alright, I'm here," said GLaDOS2. "Wait...oh! Superior! Almost finished!"

Ralph said nothing.

"You should be proud."

Still nothing.

"Soon you'll be in the next testing course.

Nothing.

"WOULD YOU SPEAK ALREADY?"

"What is there to say?"

"I don't know. You just seem angry."

"Wow, thanks for that, Einstein."

GLaDOS2 was taken aback. "What's THAT supposed to mean?"

"Who wouldn't be angry? Stuck underground with nobody around except a robot who thinks they can just come in and replace GLaDOS when they can't."

"Your little friend Galaxa said the same thing."

"She's not my friend. I helped build her."

"Yes, I read that file. From what I understand there was a little...well...MISHAP."

Ralph turned away from the camera. "Don't bring that up."

"Oh, don't worry. I'll keep your secret. Until, of course, it bubbles over and bursts."

* * *

Chell slumped down, panting. She did it. She'd finished the course in record time. She smiled. Even though she didn't like being all alone, she liked her accomplishments.

"Well done! Now, on to the next course..."

Chell gasped. WHAT? Then she realized it. How could she have been so stupid? Obviously GLaDOS2 was now addicted to the testing. Either that, or she'd never bothered to learn about humans enough to realize they got tired.

"It says here in your file that you're mute. So you can't speak. A bit frustrating, it seems. You know, there's a way to fix that."

_I'm listening, _thought Chell, however warily.

"I can make a deal with you. I give you your speech back, and you tell me anything I want to know."

Chell crossed her arms. _No deal._

"I'll take that as a no. Well, that's fine. You can just stay mute. Next test coming up..."

Chell sighed. She hoped GLaDOS2 would make a good offer soon...

* * *

"You'll see. You don't want them."

"Please. They're fine, except for the stupid one with glasses. He's annoying."

"The one in the jumpsuit."

"What?"

"She's the one you have to watch out for."

"Why?"

"She killed me once and then yanked me from my body another time. In fact, I found a file later. It warned against testing her. So good luck."

"Well-"

"And Galaxa'll swear at you if you're not careful. Oh, and Rick might kill himself if he gets too enthusiastic-"

"He'll DIE?" exclaimed GLaDOS2. "No, I can't let that happen!"

"Why not?"

"Because!" GLaDOS2 replied hastily.

GLaDOS gasped, then tried not to laugh. She could get in trouble if she did.

"Well, don't give him dangerous tests. The moron- well, you may as well kill him. He's the Intelligence Dampening Sphere. And don't leave him and Chell alone- I'm afraid of what we might have to witness." She shuddered. "Why do you keep me in here anyway? Why not just kill me?"

"You're too valuable to kill. You know a lot."

"So you're saying I'm smarter than you."

Big mistake. GLaDOS2 whirled to face her. "Well, when you put it that way..." Her claw swung back and then struck GLaDOS's cage like an adult spanking their child. "...it sounds awfully RUDE."

GLaDOS covered her ears and shivered. Couldn't someone help her?


	2. Reset Game

**Chapter 2- Reset Game**

"Man alive, that was hard," Wheatley panted. "But I did it. I'm in the next room."

"Oh, Lord, I can't believe THIS was the fastest you could go."

"Hey, it was a hard test!" Another sigh from GLaDOS2. "Hey, uh, is there any chance you'd bring Chell in so we can-"

"NO!"

"I was just gonna ask if we could test!"

"...That's not an innuendo, is it?"

"I don't think so. You know, the partner test thing."

"No. I don't want you two planning an escape...But, I wonder...Would you tell me a little about this 'Chell' of yours? You seem to like her."

"I'm bloody in LOVE with her! She's amazing...She's the best test subject and person EVER, when she's not trying to kill you, and that's only if you've done her wrong. Even though she can't speak, she's the sweetest person on Earth! And being around her is amazing, cuz she loves me just as much as I love her!"

"How much?"

"She kissed me!"

"Whoopty-doo. More evidence."

"Hmm...She forgave me for trying to kill her and betraying her. Not necessarily in that order."

"Well, then, yeah, she loves you. Which gives me an idea...I might need to take a more direct approach."

* * *

Chell was asleep from exhaustion, snoring. "HEY YOU! GET UP NOW!" She jolted awake. What was it...?

A claw descended, holding a fearful Wheatley. Chell smiled and ran to meet him, but the claw stopped when Wheatley was only a few feet from the ground. Panels moved and a laser appeared right below him, running from one wall to the other. "Remember that deal? Say yes or your stupid boyfriend gets fizzled."

Chell tried to stop the one terrified tear that formed, but it did, and fell to the ground silently. Guess GLaDOS2 had made a good offer after all...

She nodded. "Good," said GLaDOS2 with satisfaction. The laser disappeared and Wheatley was swept up by the claw once more. Another claw came down. "Don't worry. You'll still get your speech back. I'm a woman of my word; my deals always come full circle. But you'll be such a valuable asset as well..."

Chell was dropped inside a room. "VOCAL CHORD REPARATION," said a voice from the ceiling- a prerecorded message.

"I'll get back to you when you can speak," said GLaDOS2.

Chell gulped. She hoped this wouldn't hurt.

Sleeping gas began to seep through emitters. Guess it wouldn't...

* * *

Galaxa absentmindedly shot a portal. She'd been thinking about what GLaDOS2 had said. The words "who you are" echoed in her ears. She'd given up on trying to tell herself that it didn't matter, that she didn't care. She knew the truth. She wanted, she needed, she HAD to know who she was.

"I'm back. You know, I could tell you who you are..."

"If I work for you," mumbled Galaxa. She wanted to say no, but...

And then a thought struck her. Double agent! She could play double agent! She'd know all of GLaDOS2's secrets. All she had to do was find things out, then squeal on her so that they could use them against her! Easy as that!

"So, what do you say?"

"It's a deal," Galaxa said.

"Wonderful! GLaDOS2 exclaimed.

_You bet, _thought Galaxa.

A paper fluttered down from the ceiling. "That's a file I found. It's about your creation. Enjoy." Galaxa sprinted to the report and grabbed it. Then she sat down to read. It started out well. She was quite a milestone in engineering. And then...huh?

Then...

Galaxa began to frantically look for a second sheet. "I'm afraid that's it," said GLaDOS2. "The problem was never resolved. That's the way you've remained since then."

Galaxa sat down, devastated. So THAT'S who she was. Then something occurred to her. She reread a paragraph. Her eyes widened. She almost forgot to breathe.

Then, as the full meaning of the file sank in, Galaxa's eyes changed. The shock in them became a burning, raging fire. She stood up abruptly and crushed the paper in her hand.

"WHEATLEY! DOUG RATTMAN!" she shrieked. "I HATE YOU BOTH!"

"Alright, I've given you my part." A claw picked Galaxa up. "You didn't think I'd just let you know everything and leave myself vulnerable to betrayal, did you? No, I've got to erase your memory first.

"Erase it, and make a new one."

* * *

"Take THAT, turret!" Rick exclaimed, shooting a portal underneath his foe. It fired everywhere in vain and he laughed. They were hopeless once disabled. He lifted the gun and blew over the top, as if it was smoking.

"Well done! I admire your shooting skills."

Rick jumped in surprise and wished she'd leave him alone. It was always so awkward when she was around. Then he realized something. "Hey, any chance I could test with Galaxa? She and I...well...you saw us reach for each other. She's my babe." He smiled mischievously; Galaxa never would've let him get away with calling her his babe. She would've punched him in the nose. Probably would've broken it, too.

"Oh," GLaDOS2 said in surprise. Then, "I see." The contempt in her voice surprised Rick. Maybe she didn't like the word "babe" either. Hm. "Well, I'll check." She disappeared for a moment, then returned. She doesn't want to."

"Alright- wait, WHAT?" asked Rick, almost falling over. "You sure you didn't ask Chell?"

"Positive," replied GLaDOS2. "I don't understand, personally. I would've tested with you." Another strange comment. Rick suppressed his shudder. "That's not an innuendo, in case you're wondering. Dirty minded AI." Rick almost gagged, she'd said that last sentence so playfully.

"Well, I guess I'll get back to testing now."

"Yes, I suppose," GLaDOS2 responded, obviously disappointed. "I've got other test subjects to tend to anyway."

And she was gone. Rick made a retching sound to himself. She acted strange. She made his skin crawl...

* * *

Ralph had passed the second course and was trudging on to the third when GLaDOS2 came on. "Well done. Again. Do you want a break? You've earned one, I guess."

Ralph nodded and slumped to the ground. "I guess this is a good time to tell you I broke my promise."

Ralph sat up. "What do you mean?"

"I'm afraid it slipped out."

"To who?"

"Galaxa."

Ralph stood up. "How could you? She's going to try and kill me now!" he hissed.

"It doesn't matter. She won't remember a thing."

"Huh?"

"Well, your memory DOES seem to escape you after a time. Don't you think? Now, I have things to attend to. Goodbye."

Ralph looked around in fear. What did she mean? Would he forget things too? When was Cave Johnson's death again?

* * *

"You are terrible at coverups," commented GLaDOS from her cage.

"What does THAT mean?"

"It's obvious that you, well, 'fancy' Rick."

GLaDOS2 whirled around. "I DO NOT FANCY RICK!"

"Oh of course." She cleared her throat and put on a high pitched voice. "'I admire your shooting skills.'"

"Be quiet!" snapped GLaDOS2. "So what if I think he has good aim?"

"His may be good, but Cupid's is just hilarious."

"Shut up!"

"Fine!" GLaDOS went into a corner of her cage to sulk. She was sick of being stuck in here. It was stupid. It was boring.

It was lonely.

A shadow fell over her. She looked behind her. Then she gasped. "Galaxa!" she whispered happily. "How'd you escape? Get me out of here!"

In response, Galaxa kicked the bars. "Silence, prisoner!" she yelled coldly.

"Did she try to get you to break her out?" GLaDOS2 asked.

"Yes. Does she do that often?"

"Oh, yes."

"Scum." Galaxa gave her a disgusted look.

"Traitor," GLaDOS growled, standing up.

"What are you talking about?" Galaxa asked. GLaDOS suddenly was taken aback. She looked into Galaxa's eyes for any small sign that she was recognized.

There was none.


	3. Nothing But Secrets

**Chapter 3- Nothing But Secrets**

"For the last time, I didn't do ANYTHING to her!"

"That's a lie!" yelled Wheatley to the ceiling. "I saw you pick her up! What did you do?"

"Please, I implore you...SHUT UP AND TEST."

"No! Not until you tell the truth!" He sat down and crossed his arms, dropping the portal gun in the process.

"How about this?" responded GLaDOS2, and several explosives came out and aimed themselves at Wheatley. "You shut your trap and test, and I don't blow you to smithereens!"

Wheatley grabbed the portal gun and scrambled to his feet. "Never mind," he said hastily. "What's the next test?"

A door opened without an answer, and Wheatley stepped through. "I have things to do. Try not to die, OK?" Wheatley nodded and she was gone. He couldn't help but feel panicked. Where was Chell? What had happened to her? Would he ever see her again? He needed her. He needed her so much...

* * *

Chell woke up. This had to be the third time she'd woken up after an unnatural nap in the middle of Aperture. "Welcome back. You should be able to speak now."

She looked up at the ceiling in defiance, and out came her first words:

"I don't like you."

"I don't care," replied GLaDOS2, and the door opened. Chell got to her feet and staggered into GLaDOS's chamber. She'd never really payed attention to the appearance of the villainous AI. She looked exactly like GLaDOS, only with a purplish-pink eye. Chell didn't like it. Not one bit. "Alright, so, you need to know your job."

"I get it. I'm your nosy blabbermouth."

"No!" cried GLaDOS from her cage. "Not you too! Don't listen to her! She's lying!"

Chell gave her a sorrowful, slightly confused look, and GLaDOS stopped.

"I'm afraid she made a deal with me," said GLaDOS2, not sounding afraid in the least.

"Not a fair one," grumbled Chell loudly enough for GLaDOS to hear. "I'm sorry. She was going to kill him."

GLaDOS nodded, understanding. She guessed she still had a vague collection of Caroline's memories, and she'd loved Cave. It seemed strange to her. Love, love seemed strange. Strange, and yet she wanted to understand it...

She shook herself. Ridiculous. She was being ridiculous. Stupid Caroline, being in her head, interrupting her thoughts.

Chell had her arms crossed. "Why do you need me in the first place?"

"Talking seems surprisingly easy for you. How-"

"That wasn't my question."

"Well, technically, she-" She gestured to Galaxa. "- is for doing my dirty work, and you are for snooping around and lying and such."

Soon Galaxa was next to Chell. She held out a hand. "Nice to meet you."

Chell raised an eyebrow and slowly shook her hand.

"I'm Galaxa. It's good to have you on the team."

Chell gave her an incredulous look and pulled her hand away quickly. "What?"

"What's your name?"

Chell looked at her, frightened, as if Galaxa had some sort of disease. What was wrong with her? "Chell. My name is Chell."

"I told you not to listen," GLaDOS mumbled. "She replaced Galaxa's memories."

"Shut up! You're in no position to lie!" Galaxa shouted at her.

Chell nervously turned to GLaDOS2. "What do you want with me?"

"Oh, I'll find a use for you. Trust me...Oh! Wait! I know! Since I don't have a job for you, you can be a different kind of test subject."

On a screen near her materialized the words, "Experiment: Human's Response to Emotional Pain".

"Oh yes," said GLaDOS2, "this will be an entertaining test indeed..."

* * *

Rick sat hunched in a corner. Why did Galaxa not want to test with him? He'd thought she loved him. Had something happened to her? Did she no longer care for him? His hand automatically drifted to his lips. He'd thought she'd be dying to see him again.

He was dying to see her.

"Why the long face?" asked an unwelcome voice. Rick concealed his grimace. He was sick of her by now.

"What do you think?" he growled.

"You miss her, don't you?" asked GLaDOS2. "Well, I understand. But someone who would walk out on you just doesn't deserve you. I mean, she must've been lying all that time."

"With all due respect," Rick grumbled, "you're not exactly helping."

"Look, honestly, what's the point of worrying when you can just forget her and start over...Perhaps, with someone new."

"If you're talking about GLaDOS-"

"I'm not. All I'm saying is that maybe you cane find someone." Rick felt a chill. He didn't like her butting into his life. And he wasn't sure what she was trying to get at.

"Why do you keep me here?"

"Well, it's not safe anywhere else."

"What about your chamber?"

There was a pause. "Trust me, that would be my first choice, but as much as I l- I mean, would like to trust you, I can't. You could bust your friend out. And I have to keep an eye on her."

"Yeah, well, you make me uneasy. I don't wanna be rude, but, please leave."

"Uneasy?...Well, I can think of a reason why me being here makes you, as you say, UNEASY. I'll leave."

She'd told the truth. She was gone. Rick groaned. What did she mean? Why did she have to be so damn confusing?

* * *

Ralph finally made it from under the wall. Tricking the panels had been hard. But he'd done it. He really had.

He looked around. Ah, his faithful water bottles and bean cans. He remembered those. Some turrets made a few friendly beeps at him. He waved, and even smiled, for the first time in a long while. He continued to the staircase.

No, this place was not anything like it had been in its glory days. He could hear everything creak. There was rust growing like moss on the metal. A couple of times a few lights would flicker, as if trying to stay alive. If he recalled correctly, his destination was to the right. So he headed in that direction. It would take GLaDOS2 ages to figure it out. He still couldn't believe he'd done it. But he had.

Ralph Rattmann had escaped.

* * *

GLaDOS2 turned to GLaDOS. "Depressed yet?"

GLaDOS looked at her angrily. "Annoyed, yes. Bored, certainly. Depressed? Not a chance."

"This isn't working..." GLaDOS2 muttered.

"So this whole thing is just to make me sad?" GLaDOS asked. "Why would you want to make me-"

"Do you know how to make all the cameras in the facility work?"

"I'm afraid that wasn't-"

"They're not operating."

GLaDOS narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "No. No I don't."

GLaDOS2 grumbled in frustration. "He must have turned them off," she concluded, then made a small, peculiar noise, as if she'd said something wrong.

"Who?"

"No one! No one!" GLaDOS2 almost screamed.

"Wow. You are a horrible liar."

There was no reply. GLaDOS frowned. Who wanted this for her? Chell was captured and so was Wheatley, Galaxa was female so it didn't match with "he", and everyone else was dead.

Weren't they?

* * *

Hey, guys! It's me! I just noticed the lack of questions on the Ask Galaxa/GLaDOS blog, and so I'd just like to kindly remind you guys its URL, which is changing because the blog is changing. I'm going to let you guys choose any of the characters from my fanfictions to ask! So the new URL is longer: askmanchitasffcharacters(dot)tumblr(dot)com. Do check it out. I promise it's worth it! :)

Thanks again!

~Manchita


	4. Chapter 4 The Early Escape

**Chapter 4- "The [Early] Escape"**

Chell tried to look alright as she walked into Wheatley's test chamber. She tried not to let tears come to her eyes. "W-Wheatley?"

Wheatley turned. "Chell? Chell!" He rushed forward to meet her and she ran to meet him. He threw his arms around her, and she wanted to stand there and feel his warmth forever. But she couldn't. She pulled away.

"Wheatley?"

His response was to pull her in for a long kiss. She tried not to sob. Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry.

"Wheatley-"

"Chell! You can speak! Bloody hell, I didn't know you could speak!"

"I couldn't. GLaDOS2 fixed it. I have something to tell you."

He brushed some hair from her face gently. "Anything."

She looked at him, trying her best to look serious.

"I don't love you anymore."

Wheatley stared at her for a few moments. Then he burst out laughing. "That's a good one! That is a REALLY good one!" Then his laughter faded. "You're joking. Aren't you?"

Chell said nothing.

Wheatley's eyes widened and his knees buckled with shock. He continued to stare straight ahead. "Why?" he gasped, quietly, his face filled with pain. Chell hesitated.

"It's because...You're not very useful. I want someone who...can actually do something."

Wheatley looked up at her, his eyes glistening with tears, and Chell was afraid that if she breathed she would begin to cry as well.

"I have to go now. Goodbye, Wheatley." She walked away, silently, leaving a dumbstruck Wheatley behind.

When the door closed the tears finally broke free, streaming down her cheeks like rivers. "Well done," said GLaDOS2. "Very interesting data from both of you."

Chell's jaw tightened. "You don't have to lie. I know you did this just to see me cry."

"Ah, but you're wrong. I did it to see HER cry." She gestured to the corner of the room where GLaDOS was. Chell's eyes darkened.

"That was a mistake. She doesn't care about me. She never cared about anyone but herself."

"Wrong again," mused GLaDOS2, and a light shone into GLaDOS's trap. She looked as if she was going to hiss at her captor, but stopped. Her eyes looked confused, lost, helpless, like a stranded kitten.

"Why?" she asked. "Why would you do that?" She looked at GLaDOS2.

"Simple answer. Because it was amusing! And informative, of course. All for science. Wouldn't you agree?"

GLaDOS stood up. "You're horrible," she said with disgust. "More horrible than he or I ever was."

"Well, good. 'Tis better to be feared than loved."

"You're wrong!" spat out Chell.

"Hello," yawned Galaxa, walking in. "Reporting for duty, ma'am."

"What exactly do you think is going on here?" GLaDOS asked.

"Hey! We ask the questions around here!"

"'We ask the questions around here,'" mocked GLaDOS in an annoying, high-pitched voice.

"I'm warning you..."

"Galaxa," said GLaDOS2, "you have permission to hurt her any way you choose."

"Okay, that's far fetched," said Chell. "There's no way Galaxa would EVER-"

"Yes, ma'am," said an uneasily hungry, wild, eager voice. Chell looked over to see a nerve-racking light in Galaxa's eyes.

GLaDOS's eyes widened further as Galaxa marched up to her, looking for something to hurt her with. She grabbed a portal gun from the shelf an, before GLaDOS could move, whacked her upside the head with it. She stumbled back in pain, holding her head. Galaxa put the portal gun back where it belonged and then went back to GLaDOS2. Her face reverted to its original state. "What would you like me to do?"

Chell took a step away from her in horror. "Why did you hurt her like that?"

"Hurt who? What? What's wrong?"

"Never mind her," said GLaDOS2. "Just patrol the borders, would you?"

"Yes, ma'am," Galaxa said, and marched off.

"What did you do to her?" Chell muttered through gritted teeth angrily.

"Well, I'm afraid it's like getting drunk. She does something violent, and when it's over she doesn't remember a thing. It's surprisingly convenient."

Chell frowned with fear. Someone had to shut GLaDOS2 down. And without an accessible portal gun, it couldn't be her.

* * *

By now Wheatley was too exhausted even to cry. He was probably out of water anyway. Why did she just walk away from him like that? Since when had she cared about usefulness? Was he really not useful?

Then he remembered. "I'm the Intelligence Dampening Sphere," he muttered. "Of course I'm useless." He looked up. Another test. Test after test after test...and now, without the reassurance that he would see his Chell again...Would this ever end?

"Psst! Wheatley! Hey!" hissed a voice. Wheatley turned to see Ralph poking his head out from underneath an opening door. "Come on! I'm gonna shut her down!" He stepped to the side.

Wheatley took a step warily. Was this really-

"I'm back. Wait...How did that door open?" Wheatley looked up, frightened. "You. You're smarter than I gave you credit for. It was all an act, was it? Well, well, well. I'm impressed."

"Actually-"

"Oh, please. You may be an excellent trickster and a genius hacker, but nothing will weasel your way out of this. Now I'm going to close the door and your tests will be monitored more severely than ever." The door began to close. "Ugh! Why won't this thing go any faster?" Ralph beckoned vigorously, and Wheatley began to run across the chamber. He wasn't going to make it, was he? No, the door would crush him. Nonetheless, the door grew closer and closer and he could hear his feet going across the floor. The door was almost closed. But he had to do this. He had to get to Chell. He had to make her love him again.

He threw himself on the ground.

The door shut.

"I AM GOING TO FIND AND KILL YOU!"

Wheatley took Ralph's hand as he was helped up. "It's OK, buddy. You're OK."

Wheatley smiled. "She thinks I broke myself out. So she thinks I'm some genius."

Ralph laughed. "Ah well. You're safe now. Her cameras won't work back here. I figure you can help me break our friends out."

Wheatley's eyes darkened. "How could I help? I'm the MORON core, remember? I'm useless."

Ralph put his hand on Wheatley's shoulder. "Knowledge might not be your forte, but smarts aren't everything. After all, I didn't choose Chell because of her IQ, did I?"

"What?"

"Never mind."

Wheatley shrugged, then smiled. "Thanks. How about we pick Rick up along the way? He could help too."

Ralph nodded. We'll have to be quick about it, though. Now that GLaDOS2 knows about this, we have to hurry. She'll be watching every area like a hawk."

"So we're shutting her down, is that right?"

"If we can. If not, someone-" He smiled. "-is an expert hacker. We can give her as much trouble as possible."

Wheatley gave a small, excited jump. "Ooh! Even if we can, can we give her trouble just for fun?"

"Depends. We don't want to give her too much time to seriously hurt someone."

They headed on. Wheatley smiled. Finally, FINALLY, he was going to get a chance to be useful.

* * *

Rick paced around his chamber, thinking. He'd decided that since he was the Adventure Sphere, he ought to rescue his friends. However, something told him that he wanted to save them for another reason. It wasn't for fame, glory, it didn't even seem to be for Galaxa (because that was already included in his list of reasons)...What could it be for?

"Psst! Friend!" Rick whipped around to see Ralph. "Hurry! She could be back any-"

Suddenly a claw came at him and he jumped behind the door he'd opened. It shut.

"He and his genius friend keep trying to bust MY test subjects out!" Then she paused. "But you..." A claw came out from the wall. "...you didn't run away when you saw him. Why?" The claw straightened his hat gently, one he'd found when they'd been living on the surface. Rick retched inwardly.

He shrugged, nervous.

"Oh, don't be shy," she said. The claw caressed his cheek and he wanted to run away from it. But he resisted the urge. "You can tell me."

Rick raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Uhh...Tell you what?"

"Oh, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about," she replied, and the claw tugged at his shirt. Now he wanted to kick the claw, but if he did she might get mad. But what did she mean?

Rick shrugged, not knowing what she was talking about. "Ok, you got me," he lied.

"I knew it!" cried GLaDOS2 with delight, and the claw grabbed and lifted him. Rick now realized he must've said something wrong. "You're coming to my chamber. I knew you loved me back!"

Rick's eyes widened in alarm.

"Oh sh-"


	5. Wait, WHO!

**Chapter 5- Wait, WHO?**

"OW!" Rick shouted as he was dropped into the chamber without warning, falling on his face.

"Oh, I'm sorry," apologized GLaDOS2. "I'm just so happy that-"

"Want me to take him for you?" Both of them turned to see Galaxa.

"Galaxa!" Rick cried. "Why didn't you want to test with me?"

"Excuse me?"

"You said you didn't want to test with me! Why?"

"Who ARE you?"

Rick suppressed a cry of incredulity. Then he frowned a bit, his eyes turning bitter. "Oh. All right. I see how it is."

GLaDOS2 turned to Galaxa. "He's a friend. You can just go about your business."

Galaxa was still looking at Rick strangely, but she nodded and left.

Rick was still angry. But now that he saw Galaxa didn't love it anymore (and was even trying to cover it up by pretending she didn't know him) he realized he'd have to lie to survive. If GLaDOS2 really thought he loved her, she'd trust him. He could keep lying so he'd live long enough to come up with an escape/rescue plan. He looked over to find GLaDOS2 staring at him. "Hi," he said, trying to sound a bit nervous, and he felt his face turn hot. He wasn't shy, he wasn't even in love, but at least the blushing made it appear so.

"Hello," GLaDOS2 said silkily. "Welcome to my humble abode."

"It's lovely," Rick lied. He thought it looked gloomy. It smelled funny, too.

"You're lovely," GLaDOS2 mused, gently stroking his cheek with a claw. Rik tried to act pleased, but he wanted to scramble away. He gagged inwardly.

"So are you." Would everything he said have to be a lie?

GLaDOS2 sighed happily. "Well, I'd love for us to have some time alone..." Rick's eyes widened with alarm before he could stop them. He hoped he looked eager. "Unfortunately, however, I have things to attend to. I'll see you later." Suddenly a wall came up between them. He looked up. There were no cameras. He let out a sigh of relief.

"Who are you?"

He turned to see Galaxa standing in the doorway. "What do you want?" he asked coldly.

She winced. "Your name," she replied.

"Rick. But you already know that."

"No I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"But-"

"STOP LYING!" Rick yelled, turning around.

Galaxa took a step back in fear. "I'm not."

Rick was about to yell at her again, but paused when he opened his mouth. "You really...don't remember me?"

Galaxa shook her head. "Should I?"

"You most definitely should."

There was an awkward silence.

"How do I know you?"

That was it. Rick marched up to Galaxa and grabbed the collar of her shirt before she could stop him. She tried to scream, but couldn't. She couldn't even struggle. There was something about his green eyes...

"Don't punch me," he said, and then they were kissing...

Galaxa suddenly felt a jolt of pain and fell on the ground, writhing. Rick's eyes widened. "What did I do?" he gasped.

"Oh, God, what did I do...?"

* * *

Chell sat down. She was bored. Really bored. And in pain. She couldn't just daydream of she'd start to them of him...

Wait a minute...GLaDOS2 wasn't in the room! She couldn't escape, but those portal guns on the currently unguarded shelf gleamed, calling to her. She slowly walked up to the shelf. When she was sure no one was watching, she looked for a portal gun that seemed functional.

"I'm back." Chell jumped with shock and turned around. The wall that had previously closed her off from her enemy was gone. GLaDOS2 often did that. She "removed" herself from a room by putting up a wall. As if she wanted to be human...

"I see you're admiring the Aperture Science Handheld-"

"Portal guns. They're portal guns."

"Well, that IS the general term."

"It's shorter, too."

"You miss testing, don't you?"

"I miss Wheatley. And having something decent to do. One that doesn't involve lying."

"Well, I suppose right now you're just a wasted test subject...So I might as well put you in testing."

Chell gave a grim smile. It was better than this. In testing, she could keep herself from having to think of him...

She grabbed a gun. "Wonderful!" chirped GLaDOS2. A door opened, and with one look back, Chell stepped through.

The door closed.

"Tell me, how did you know Galaxa's origins?" asked GLaDOS.

"I looked it up."

"That's impossible. I looked it up numerous times for her. I came up with nothing."

"You did," GLaDOS2 said. "But I didn't. That's my improvement. I can do anything I want. See anything I want."

"Except the back of the facility," GLaDOS mused.

GLaDOS2 turned away grumpily and tried once more to see back there. "That diva and his privacy."

"WHO?"

"NO ONE!"

GLaDOS hunched in the corner of her cage again. "So, who IS Galaxa? What was she made for?"

"Do you really expect me to tell you?"

"What harm could it do?"

"You could tell her. And with her brainwashed, that might bring back her memories."

"What do you mean? Or can you not tell?"

"I can tell you this; she wouldn't believe you if you told her this. I couldn't completely erase her memories. I had to bury them deep in her brain. She needs something to remind her of her past; something big."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Something big!"

"What if Rick got her to fall in love with him again?"

GLaDOS2 was amused. "I'm afraid that won't happen. Rick is in love ME."

"I KNEW you fancied Rick!" shouted GLaDOS. "Wait...he's in love with YOU?"

"Yes. He told me so himself."

GLaDOS said nothing, but she had a feeling that Rick hadn't meant it when he'd said that. GLaDOS2 was surprisingly naive to believe in their, uh, LOVE.

"Besides, it doesn't matter. She works for me. There's no way Galaxa would fall in love with Rick. Especially if I told her not to. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to."

"What kind of business?"

"Remember when I experimented with Chell and Wheatley's emotions? Well, I was thinking about how I thought I would feel if I were Wheatley and something...furthering my misfortune...happened. And so I decided to see if my theory is correct. So, if you'll excuse me...I have tests to conduct."

* * *

"Here we are," sighed Ralph tiredly. He turned the lights on. They flickered a bit at first, but they were all right.

Wheatley walked aimlessly just to look around. "Man alive, this place is- AAH! OH GOD! RALPH!" Ralph rushed to Wheatley's side to see clothes lying on the ground. Just clothes. "Please tell me someone left their clothes lying around," Wheatley whimpered.

Ralph shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid I can't do that, Wheatley. It'd be an outright lie. I guess some insects or something got all the way down here in the almost 30,000 years we were asleep." He shuddered a bit and heard Wheatley's teeth chattering. He bent down.

"No! Don't touch it!" Ralph ignored him and lifted the name tag.

"Henry," he breathed. He set the name tag back and hung his head. "Oh, Henry..."

"Who's 'Henry'?"

"He and I...built GLaDOS together.

"No way!" Wheatley cried. Then he made a small grimace. "What happened to him?"

"What happened to everyone here, except me. Neurotoxin."

"How'd you get away?"

"I ducked into Cave Johnson's old office." He shuddered. "Not a living person down there."

"It's a storage room, isn't it?"

"That's the story. Unfortunately, I know better." He looked at Wheatley. "I'm sure you know you were once a human." Wheatley nodded, looking curious. "Well...your old body's down there. Along with everyone else's." His voice shook as he said it.

"Wh-What?" asked Wheatley, shocked, and he walked backward. Right into a button.

The lights dimmed and a projector lit up, placing an image on the blank wall. Both men turned to see a video playing.

There were two cores, not yet activated, on a table. Scientists bustled around them, talking to one another. "Guys, shush!" chuckled a familiar voice. "We've got to document this!" The camera turned to someone. They looked familiar, but only vaguely. The young man smiled, a bit grimly. He spoke that way as well. In fact, he seemed to do everything with an air of sadness. "My name is Doug Ralph Rattmann, and today we are building and installing two personality cores into the..."

"Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System, aka GLaDOS," finished a man with dark skin. "Look, you've got to stop being so frightened of it."

The Ralph that stood next to Wheatley turned away from the screen. The Ralph on the screen, who still called himself Doug, nodded reluctantly. "Sure thing, Henry." Then he turned back to the camera. "The one on the left is the Intelligence Dampening Sphere, aka Wheatley, and the one on the right we haven't named at all yet. But it shall be the first AI construct in the world to feel true emotions!"

Another man with dark skin, although not as dark as Henry's, stepped up next to Doug. "Recall that emotions are created be a chemical stimulus between neurons," he said. He had an interesting accent that made him a bit difficult to understand. "Well, we weren't capable of grabbing the real chemicals to put into the constructs' brains, or motherboards. So we made our own duplicate of them." He held up a bottle filled with liquid. "Recently, however, we were able to extract the true chemicals from a deceased employee. With their family's consent, of course. The chemicals we created weren't genuine, so the emotions are there, but they aren't felt as humanly as they're supposed to. So now, we have built the two AI constructs..."

"...and we are going to give the one on the right the real chemicals," finished Doug.

"Aperture is, once again, making history," said Henry.

"I will give Doug here the honor of putting the chemicals into the AI constructs," said the man with the accent, and handed Doug two bottles. He took them with awe, once again, tainted with grieving.

"Thanks, Siddharth!" he said happily. "I'm going to be honest. I liked this much more than building...the uh, big robot."

"GLaDOS," Henry said with a bit of scorn.

"Yeah, that," said Doug, his eyes gaining some bitterness. Then he smiled, went up to the robots and extended his hands over them, holding a bottle over each. Then he tipped them.

Henry suddenly jumped up in alarm. "NO! WAIT!"

But, whatever the problem was, it was too late. The liquid poured into the tops of the AIs, which had not yet been sealed. As Siddharth hurried to place the final top on each, Henry sprinted to Doug. He snatched to bottles from him, who looked bewildered. "Look," Henry said, turning the labels toward him. "You poured in the wrong ones..."

Ralph stared for a moment. Then he burst, "I'M SORRY! How bad is it? Can we fix it?"

Henry shook his head in a similar fashion to the way Ralph had when he'd seen Henry's clothes. "We can't fix it. But don't worry! We'll find a solution. Everyone makes mistakes. Besides, it's a core. It doesn't matter all that much." Doug nodded reluctantly again. "Let's switch 'em on. Shall we?"

Siddharth, who had obviously not heard their conversation, activated both cores.

Wheatley immediately sprang to life. "Oh, uh, hello! Where am I? Who are you? Oh bloody hell, this feels amazing! I know what this is! I must be alive! Is that what it is?"

The scientists nodded, smiling.

"Uh...hello?" They all turned to the second core. Then they all looked at each other worriedly.

"Hello?" asked Ralph.

The core smiled, then giggled like a young girl. "Hello," she said again. "What's your name?"

"Doug," said Doug.

"Nice to meet you," replied the core.

"What's MY name?" asked Wheatley.

"Wheatley," replied Henry.

"Really? Hm. I dunno. You sure? Cuz, y'know, it sounds a bit boring. Why not something like...I dunno. Something cooler." He continued to babble, amusing the scientists.

"What about me?" asked the other core. "What's MY name?"

And then the camera ran out of film.

The lights came back on. Wheatley stared in shock. He hadn't needed the unidentified core's name. He had recognized the pink, star-shaped eye.

It was Galaxa.

"Well, now you know," Ralph said, still turned away. "It's all my fault."

"No, it's not," Wheatley said a bit angrily. "It's no one's fault. And even if it was, think about it. Galaxa's fine now. She has Rick, and as soon as we shut GLaDOS2 down she'll be free of testing. It happened. There's nothing we can do about it."

"HEY!" said a voice suddenly, and a bean can came flying out of nowhere and hit Ralph on the head. "GET OUTTA HERE!"

"Ow..." Ralph said, rubbing his noggin. "Hey, look, we don't mean any ha-"

"I said, GET OUT!" another bean can came flying out, but Ralph dodged it. "If you want food, GET YOUR OWN! I never had to do this. Hiding out forever. Ugh. This is stupid. I used to be in charge." The voice sighed. "I miss those days."

"Who are you?" asked Ralph.

"None of your business, lab boy!" replied the voice grumpily.

Wheatley and Ralph looked at each other. They recognized the term "lab boy" but they figured this couldn't be who they thought it was. No. Cave Johnson was dead.

Wasn't he?


	6. Sir, Yes, Sir!

**Chapter 6- Sir, Yes, Sir!**

"Get your own hiding place," grumbled the voice.

"Fine," said Ralph angrily, and still rubbing his head, began to walk towards the door.

"Wait." Ralph paused. "Look, I...I haven't been with humans for so long. Forget what I said."

"Who are you?"

"No one of importance," said the voice, but it had an irritated tone to it, as if the speaker wished that what they said wasn't the case.

"Your NAME," said Ralph.

Finally someone came out in anger. "I was your BOSS, Lab Boy!"

Ralph and Wheatley stared in shocked silence and the bedraggled figure of Cave Johnson. He rolled his eyes. "Yes, I look awful. Now, I know this may come as a shock, but...I'm not dead."

"We've noticed," said Wheatley softly.

"But how?" asked Ralph, recovering quickly. "They put Caroline in there because you were dead and you'd said to put her in the computer if you died! Besides, you should be dead anyway; it's been 30,000 years!"

"Shouldn't you?"

"Yes, but you know I-"

"Yes, you did. And so did I."

"They gave it to you!"

"What's going on?" asked Wheatley. But the others didn't hear.

"Yes, why?"

"I told them not to give it to you!"

"Why?"

"It-"

"HEY!" Wheatley yelled, and they fell silent. "WHAT'S GOING ON HERE! BLOODY HELL!"

Ralph looked at him sadly. "Sorry. We're talking about something that's my fault. Again. I never should've taken that job."

"What job?"

"Makin' me immortal," said Cave casually.

Wheatley had to steady himself against the wall. "WHAT!"

"Yes," said Ralph. "But I had to test it first. And nobody else would do it. So now both Cave and I are immortal. And who knows who might be immortal as well."

"Are you invincible?"

"No. We just can't die from old age."

Cave nodded. "To be honest, it's great. That's why I tried to get into a computer. To make myself live forever. But the medicine Doug invented took care of that. So whoops! I died."

"What about Caroline?"

"I couldn't stop them before they did it. Heck, I couldn't stop them at all. So now Caroline lives forever. Inside that THING."

"She's human now, y'know," Wheatley said.

"Yeah, I heard."

"How did you know?" asked Ralph.

Cave shrugged. "I'm nosy. I snoop around."

Ralph raised an eyebrow. Cave wasn't telling the truth. But pressing on would just make him angry. When life gave him lemons... "Well, in case you don't know, another robot, GLaDOS2, has taken over the facility. She's got everyone but us captive. We intend to shut her down."

"Why's that?"

"She's got out FRIENDS CAPTIVE," said Wheatley, as if Cave was crazy.

Suddenly the intercom crackled. "I'm not sure where you are, escapees, but I'd like to assure you that trying to find Chell is pointless. Even if you do, it won't be satisfactory. After all, I killed her."

Wheatley's eyes widened with a mixture of shock and despair, and he dropped his portal gun.

* * *

Chell's eyes widened as she heard the message. Then she faced the camera in rage. "How could you say something like that! What good does that do!"

"I did it for science," GLaDOS2 said. "It's another human emotion experiment. I'm getting some fascinating data at the moment."

"I'll bet," Chell spat coldly.

"Since I have video to watch, you should leave me alone." The cameras dropped from the walls.

Chell hung her head. For the first time in her life, she felt helpless. GLaDOS2 did whatever she wanted to do, and no one could stop her. Not even Chell.

She stepped into her next test chamber, then stopped in her tracks. She'd seen this test before! She closed her eyes, trying to remember, and a smooth, female voice entered her mind.

"_Let's see what the next test is. Oh. Advanced aerial faithplates. Well, have fun soaring through the air without a care in the world. I have to go to the wing that was made of glass and pick up 15 acres of broken glass. BY MYSELF."_

She opened her eyes, smiling.

Then she remembered more. There had been a room here. One where Ralph had scribbled the thoughts that came to him through his insanity. She shrugged to herself. She was stuck here. She might as well see it.

She popped a portal in the right place, then stepped onto the first faithplate. She went flying and fell on another. When she had once again been launched she shot a portal on the right panel, then waited for the third and final faithplate. When she fell through the portal she flew into the small room she'd discovered the first time she'd been in the chamber.

Immediately an deafening sound filled her ears, and she covered them, squeezing her eyes shut. Slowly she uncovered them. She had forgotten about the radio that began to go berserk when you brought it into Ralph's den. Then she remembered about the code. When she had found the city ruins, she had sought out the library and, upon finding it, discovered a book on codes. The book had talked about the code the radio was spitting out fervently. And she knew how to make it.

Then an idea struck her. She grabbed the radio and shut it off. Then she grabbed some chalk and a space but of wall. She began to write. She was going to send Wheatley a message, one that Ralph could decipher. One that told them she was OK. Then she would find a way to send them that message in Ralph's radio riddle.

She could only hope that she remembered the code.

* * *

GLaDOS stood up when she heard the message. "WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE, I AM GOING TO-"

"'Get out'? You're not leaving. You can sit and rot here for the rest of your life. I couldn't care less."

Something suddenly occurred to GLaDOS. She grinned and leaned back against the bars of her cage, like a member of a street gang. "I have a question."

"And what is that?"

"What are you going to do when all your test subjects die?"

GLaDOS2 moved back a bit. "What do you mean, 'die'?"

GLaDOS raised an eyebrow, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "You do know humans aren't immortal."

"Why not? C- I mean, I've heard of immortal humans at Aperture."

GLaDOS's smile vanished. "Excuse me?"

"Yes. I know about immortal humans."

"How are they immortal?"

"A special medicine, from what I've observed."

"And do you have that medicine?"

"Uhhhhh...no."

GLaDOS smiled again. "So, how does that help you?"

Then GLaDOS2 gave a start, as if she realized something. "Wait...So Rick isn't immortal either?"

"No, of course not. Why?"

"Oh no!" GLaDOS2 cried. She turned to her computer. "I have to fix that..." GLaDOS watched her frantically search her data banks for a solution. "Wait. Who...?"

There was silence.

"What is it?" asked GLaDOS. "Is something wrong?"

"No," said GLaDOS2, and then suddenly her voice became frighteningly satisfied.

"Everything's just perfect..."

* * *

Galaxa's thrashing ceased, and she went limp. Horrified, Rick stood up and backed away, eyes wide open. He hoped she wasn't dead. Please don't be dead. She couldn't be. What had he done? Was she OK? Move. Move. Just move. Breathe. Twitch. Anything!

Her eyes flew open and Rick jumped. "Rick?" she asked.

His response was to steady himself to keep from passing out. She smiled, then hauled herself up. "Are you OK?" She looked up. "Where the hell am I?"

Rick held out one finger to signal for her to wait a moment. He took a deep breath. "GLaDOS2 erased your memory and you thought you were her slave or something and when I kissed you you fell over and now you remember."

Galaxa nodded, processing the information. "Does she know?"

"No. She thinks I'm in love with her."

Galaxa raised both her eyebrows. "Say what?"

"There was...a bit of a misunderstanding."

"I sure hope so," snorted Galaxa, amused.

"Listen," said Rick, "this is perfect. If we both play our roles we can learn things to rescue our friends with."

Galaxa nodded. "That's what I was thinking. You're right- it's perfect."

"You two, where are you?"

Galaxa and Rick looked at each other and nodded. Then they headed outside.

"There you are," said GLaDOS2. "Galaxa, patrol the borders."

Galaxa looked at Rick out of the corners of her eyes and he made a small salute signal with his hand still by his side. She saluted to GLaDOS2. "Yes, ma'am!" Then she marched off.

GLaDOS2 turned to Rick. "And now you and I can have some together time."

Rick grinned at her. He really hoped "together time" didn't involve him getting violated. GLaDOS2 gestured to the left. He looked and saw a dinner table with lit candles and one chair. God, she was weird. Why was he going to have to do this? Why?

He continued to smile, sitting down at the table.

GLaDOS2 turned to him. "Now, I understand you humans have taste buds, so you want things that will taste good. So, I attempted to fix the best dinner possible. And I installed a function that will allow me to taste the food." Some cylindrical objects Rick had never seen before came down from the ceiling and were placed gently on the table. "The appetizers. Dig in." Rick gave her another false smile and tentatively took one of the foods. He held it to his mouth and looked up at GLaDOS2. She was staring at him, watching, waiting. He opened his mouth, then paused. He looked at the food. What if it was poisoned? He closed his eyes and took a bite. It tasted numb as he chewed (whether this was his fear clouding his taste or a result of GLaDOS2's "attempts" at cooking, he did not know). She was still looking at him. It gave him the creeps. What was she, a stalker?

Actually, that wasn't too far-fetched of a description.

He smiled and nodded, giving her a thumb's up. "Mmmmm," he said, "delicious. What was that?"

"An egg roll," she replied. "It's a foreign dish." She took one and attached it to herself. She tilted her head, thinking. "I think it was divine," she said. Rick gave a small sigh. This was going to be a long dinner, wasn't it?

"Well, I'd love to eat more, but I'm not really hungry. GLaDOS put stuff in the air for that. Sorry."

GLaDOS2 seemed amused. "Yes," she said. "That's what it is." Then she reached over and took his hat off playfully. "I'm sure it's not because you want to hurry it along."

Rick regretted saying anything. "Well, actually-"

"I'm sure you're wondering why it's like this," she interrupted, stroking the side of his face. "Why you feel this way."

Actually, he was wondering why SHE felt this way, but Rick pretended to act interested. "There's a reason?" he asked.

"Yes, actually. A good reason. One only I remember."

"And what is that?"

GLaDOS2 got uncomfortably close to him, and he tried to subtly lean back, away from her.

"I was once human too."

"And..."

"And you and I were in love then too."

Rick almost threw up. WHAT! With HER! "You sure?"

She nodded. "Absolutely positive, my heartthrob. I wish I was human now. So we could do what we used to."

Rick avoided asking what it was they used to do. "Hang on," he said. "How did we know each other?" He doubted ever walking into an insane asylum as a human.

"We were co-workers," she answered, brushing some hair from his face. "And soon, we'll be-"

Suddenly a beep came from a computer. GLaDOS2 turned, looking a bit irked, and Rick sighed with relief when he saw she wasn't looking. She looked back at him and he stopped. Wait...Did she look...worried? The beeping stopped and she turned to back to him. He tried to see the screen, but GLaDOS2 blocked his view.

"I thought you said you'd only bring GLaDOS down here," said someone on the computer. The voice seemed so familiar...

"It's not my fault. Her friends came in after her."

"Yeah, well, I had to sneak off to talk to you. You know why?" The voice said something softly.

GLaDOS2 gasped. "Where? Where are you?"

"How should I know? You know I just darted off so that you could do your job."

"Yes, well, speaking of that, I've decided on my payment."

"And?"

"I want you to make me human."

The voice laughed. "WHAT! Is that all! Fine, good, human it is."

"Thank you. And I have a question."

"Yes?"

"Isn't-" She paused and looked back at Rick, then turned to the computer and said something quietly.

"Yeah, why?"

"I need him to do it again."

"For who?"

"Never mind that. Thank you, boss."

"Don't forget who's in charge here."

"Never, sir."

Footsteps sounded from the computer. "Gotta go," said the voice urgently, and then the sound of static entered the chamber.

Then silence.

"Who was that?" Rick asked, his interest truly peaked.

"No one."

Rick suddenly realized something. Maybe GLaDOS2's strange crush on him could come in handy. He stood up and gave her a mischievous look. "Aw, come on. We're in love. We can't keep secrets."

GLaDOS2 sighed. "You're right. I suppose it's about time that I told you everything.

"Thanks, honey." And with that, Rick sat back, relaxed, and enjoyed the truth.

* * *

Hey guys! Manchita here. Just popping in to say how awesome you all are! It feels great to have some people loyal enough to tell you exactly what they think, even when they want to point out a flaw of yours. Thank you for letting me know about the grammatical errors. Just before you guys let me know someone suggested I proofread the stories, and my response was, "Meh, it's fine." *facepalm* Thanks for giving me a slap in the face so I can wake up. You're the best closest-thing-I've-ever-had-to-fans EVER! :DDDDDD Oh, and don't forget, the robots (and Chell) need something good to do all day (something that doesn't involve killing anyone) and answering your questions is the perfecft candidate! Ask them anything at asktheportalcharacters(dot)com!

Manchita :)


	7. Not Dead

**Chapter 7- Not Dead**

"Sir...What are you doing?"

Cave turned around and smiled awkwardly. "Oh, come on. My legacy is important."

"Yeah, but considering we're the only two members of the human race left, nobody's going to see that portrait. So no one cares if it's crooked."

Cave let go reluctantly. "Come on," Ralph said. "I know where the facility's controls are. We can get there and try to stump her."

"Then why aren't we going?"

"Well..." Ralph looked back.

"Is he still bawling about his girlfriend? Tell him to suck it up!"

"Cave, she's DEAD."

"Yeah, and my wife's trapped in a revolting computer. Do you see me crying?"

"He's a sensitive guy! He can't just forget!"

Cave stomped toward the room Wheatley was in. "We'll see about that."

Wheatley was sitting in a chair, silent, when he came in. "Look, I know she's dead-"

"She's not dead."

"What?"

"She's not dead."

"GLaDOS2 killed her! You heard!"

"No she didn't. She tried. But Chell defeated her, like always."

"Sorry, pal, but she's dead."

Wheatley stood up in anger. "CHELL IS NOT DEAD!"

"Guys, stop!" said Ralph.

Wheatley next turned to him. "Chell isn't dead! She's perfectly fine and we're meeting her in GLaDOS's old chamber as soon as we can get there! We agreed on it!"

"What are you talking about?"

"She's fine and you know it! We need to get to GLaDOS's chamber, or she'll think something happened to us." He went to the door and turned. "Are you coming or not?"

Cave and Ralph looked at each other, highly concerned. "Oooookaaaaayyyyy..." said Ralph, and began to follow him. Wheatley smiled.

"Good to see you've finally come to your senses."

Ralph ignored his comment. What was wrong with him? How could he insist that Chell wasn't dead? Had he gone crazy or something? He tried to shrug it off. But the worried feeling lingered. _I should say something_, he thought. He took a deep breath and put his hand on Wheatley's shoulder.

"Wheatley, GLaDOS2 came on the intercom. She said that she killed Chell. She's gone. You have to know that."

Wheatley hung his head. "You're right."

Ralph sighed. Thank God.

Then Wheatley began to tremble, and he balled his fists. His voice shook. "And it's all GLaDOS2's fault."

Well, that was true, Ralph supposed.

Wheatley turned to him. "You know what I'm going to do to her when I get my hands on her? I'm going to tear her apart. Piece. By. Piece." He did a ripping motion with his hands.

Ralph flinched and drew his hand back in surprise. Wheatley wasn't violent. Not normally, anyway.

"I don't blame you," said Cave. "I'd have done the same."

Ralph seriously doubted this. He wouldn't have wanted to risk his own life.

"And then I'm going to toss all the parts down the incinerator. All except her head. That I'm going to bash in. And I'll rip her eye out and shatter it." Wheatley sounded like GLaDOS as he spoke; bitter, vengeful and utterly insane. Then something hit him. "Or I could power her head on and torture her. First, she could be in between an incinerator and a cryo-chamber, freezing and frying at the same time. Then I can slowly pop all the circuits she uses for mobilization. Then a year trapped in a room with Fact Core. THEN she'll be ripped apart by wild animals. She deserves it all. She killed Chell."

"All right now, cool off. We've gotta get down there," Ralph said as they arrived at a large screen. He began to press buttons. Then he smiled. "Alright." Some strange elevators came down; one was orange, the other blue. Ralph put Wheatley in the blue one, and he and Cave stepped into the orange.

Immediately they were sucked upward and dropped in a dark room. "Oof!" said Cave as Ralph fell on him.

"Sorry."

Wheatley sat up. "I can't see a thing; it's too dark. Where-AAAAH! GET OFF! GET OFFA ME!"

"What is it?" Cave asked. "What-AH!" A stream of yelled curses quickly followed.

Ralph sprang up, ready to fight, but a hand grabbed him. He tried to wriggle free, but whoever was now dragging him away had a metal grip. And they weren't letting go anytime soon. "Stop! Let GO!" he grunted.

Then he was hit over the head, and the world went black.

* * *

Chell finished coding the message. Now all she had to do was get the radio to them, because she didn't know how to broadcast a radio signal.

"Chell? Where are you? Did you finish the chamber?...Oh, if you escaped, things are going to get REALLY ugly."

Chell came out hurriedly, waving her arms. "I'm here!" she called.

"Oh, alright...What's that in your hand?"

"A radio," Chell answered quickly. Then an idea struck her. "Could I ask you a favor?"

"As long as it isn't outrageous."

_YOU'RE outrageous,_ Chell thought, but said nothing of the sort. "Could you play the song on this throughout the whole facility?"

"Sure, why not?" A claw grabbed the radio and Chell smiled. GLaDOS would never have fallen for that. As the radio vanished into the ceiling, Chell sat down to wait. As soon as it reached a certain beep, they would know.

But it hardly even made it past the first. As soon as it sounded GLaDOS2 dropped the radio in shock and Chell heard it bust as it hit the ground. "What was the point of that!" she yelled down at Chell. She shrugged sadly in response. That had been her only hope. And it had failed. "Never mind. Just get back to testing."

Just before she left to finish the test, she took one look back. "Thanks for everything, Rattmann. Really and truly."

Then she left the room as she had found it: Alone and lost in pain and silence.

* * *

"I know it's a lot to take in," said GLaDOS2 as Rick sat with his mouth open. "But that's how it is. And once I find your friend, I'll get him to do it for you too."

Galaxa marched in. "The borders are secure," she said, trying her best to sound like her mind was still under GLaDOS2's influence.

GLaDOS2 nodded. "Could you take Rick to the other room? I'm going to check on GLaDOS." Galaxa nodded firmly and led Rick to a separate room, adjacent to GLaDOS's chamber but not where she was being kept. The wall rose up behind them and the security cameras turned off. Naive. That was what GLaDOS2 was. Naive. All the better for them.

Galaxa instantly turned to Rick. "What happened?"

"...You know how we used to be humans?"

"Well DUH! We're in our old bodies!"

"Well...she told me we were in love. She and I were in love."

There was a pause.

"EW."

"She told me a lot more, but it's complicated."

"What does THAT mean?"

"I don't have time to explain it all!"

"Oh, OK. You scared me for a moment there."

There was a deafening silence as they both stood there. Galaxa looked at the security cameras. Upon seeing they were still off, she grabbed Rick and kissed him.

"What was THAT for!" he asked excitedly.

"Just in case one of us dies in the next twenty-four hours."

Rick grinned. "Who, US! Pfft! No way!"

Suddenly there was a tapping noise from the left side of the room. A strange clicking sound followed. Their eyes widened and they froze.

"Please tell me that was you."

"'Fraid not."

Their heads turned and when they saw what they were locked up with, their jaws dropped in horror.

* * *

"So, how are we today?" asked GLaDOS2 gloatingly.

"I'm having a BALL," replied GLaDOS. "What do you think?"

"Good to hear it," mused the impostor.

"One thing I still don't understand. What did I ever do to you?"

"Nothing."

"...What?"

"You never did anything to me."

"Then why-?"

"I was offered payment."

"From...?"

"None of your business."

"Well, fine then. So you did it for payment. Besides, whoever it is that's paying you probably can't afford whatever it is they've promised you."

GLaDOS2 whirled to face her. "DON'T YOU GET IT! YOU TOOK HER AWAY! AND NOW HE'LL TAKE WHAT YOU VALUE MOST! YOUR POWER! AND I'M JUST HERE TO CARRY IT OUT!" She stopped yelling. "It's my whole purpose."

There was a silence.

"Who? Who did I take? Who did I take her from?"

GLaDOS2 turned away. "No. I've already told you enough to get myself in deep trouble."

GLaDOS looked at her for a moment. "You don't have to, you know. Follow their directions."

"Yes I do. You're human now, you have a choice. I don't."

GLaDOS frowned. Had SHE ever had a choice? She shook herself. Of course she had. But the seed of doubt was planted. And now she looked back and wondered about everything she'd ever known. Was it possible, even though she was already a bit violent, that something had manipulated her for her entire life? Then she looked at GLaDOS2 once more. And her eyes widened.

Of course.

* * *

YAYIT'SFINALLYPOSTED.

Thank God.

And that is all. BAI! And happy reading! :D


	8. Plans

Ralph came to consciousness hours later, and the first thing he realized was the strange warbles and beeps coming from some unidentified source. As he regained clear vision, he was able to see that he was on the ground with two robots looking down at him. One with an orange eye, and one with a blue.

"See, I told you he'd be brilliant once he came back," said Wheatley as he strolled over to look at Ralph. "Hello! So glad you're back. These are my friends, Atlas and P-Body."

The robots cheerfully made more strange sounds. Ralph was able to wave at them and give them a feeble smile. Lifting himself off of the ground, he brushed himself off and was able to look around. They were in a chamber he had never seen before; it was large, but different. There was nothing but panels as walls. Nothing else to be found, not even a weighted storage cube or a button. Well, there were the beings in the room, of course. But there wasn't much decor. "What is this place?" he asked the robots.

They looked at each other sadly, and one- he was round- began to speak in more of the gibberish that Ralph had woken up to. The machine proceeded to make an entire speech which was clearly incomprehensible to any human.

When he finished, Wheatley turned to Ralph with a darkened look. "It was GLaDOS2," he explained with a grimace. "She put the poor little buddies in here, because she said their test results were 'useless.'"

The tall, orange-eyed one nodded, adding something to Wheatley's statements, and again Wheatley translated. "She says that GLaDOS never used to talk to them like that."

"Well, I'm sure it wasn't much better," was Ralph's reply.

One robot pointed at him and turned to Wheatley, saying something to him. Wheatley grinned. "That's my friend, Ralph. He's a good man. A scientist."

They looked at him curiously, beeping once more.

He waved. "It's nice to meet you," he told them, trying to speak clearly.

Wheatley gave him a bored look. "They're robots, Ralph, not deaf."

Ralph's face began to feel hot with embarrassment, but that quickly faded at the "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" that came from behind him. He turned in alarm.

"Oh, hello, Mr. Johnson. Welcome back," he said, frowning.

"Don't you talk to me that way," Cave replied. "I can still fire you."

"Not that it means anything," Ralph murmured.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing, sir."

"Who are they?" Cave asked, eyeing Atlas and P-Body suspiciously.

"Testing robots," Wheatley explained, adjusting his glasses. "But they're on our side, don't worry." Then, turning to Ralph, he added, "They say they can't get out of here. Do you think you could find a way, somehow?"

Ralph frowned and looked around the room, searching for some sort of secret exit. "Did she just dump you in here from assembly machines?" he asked the robots.

They nodded sadly in response, warbling in low, depressed tones.

Then, quietly, muffled, came a "Help! I'm trapped!" which Ralph could barely hear.

"Did you hear that?" he asked excitedly.

Everyone else gave him an odd look. "No," Cave answered rudely.

But Ralph was sure he'd heard something from behind one of the panels. He put his ear on one and began to walk along it, listening. The sounds continued but he couldn't exactly find their source until he hit one spot and heard, "Here! Here!" more clearly.

"There's someone behind this panel here!" he told the others. "We have to get to them!"

The other humans in the room were still looking at him as if he were out of his mind. But the robots came up to him and cocked their head, listening. They said nothing of a sound, but without a word, Atlas raised his fist and then punched one panel as hard as he could. The brunt of his attack was able to punch in one corner of the panel. In response, Atlas hit it again. And again. Eventually he totaled the material and it fell off the wall, revealing a small hole behind it, containing an object.

Ralph's eyes widened in complete shock. "...Cor!" he gasped, snatching the companion cube from the spot and clutching it like a small child. "Where have you been?"

"Waiting for you," it replied calmly. This was what Ralph had always loved most about Cor; his ability to remain calm in the worst of situations.

"Don't do that again!" Ralph cried, and, sitting Indian-style on the ground, set Cor down. "Can you help us?"

"Ralph... what are you doing?" asked Wheatley with concern. "Why are you talking to that cube?"

"Need I remind you that the companion cube cannot speak?" Cave told him knowingly.

Ignoring him, Ralph continued. "We need help; Atlas and P-Body have been trapped here for a long time because of GLaDOS2. Do you know her?"

"All too well," Cor replied grimly.

Ralph wanted to ask what had happened, but there were more important concerns at the moment. "Well, we need to find out how to get out of here."

The cube was silent.

"Come on, Cor, come on," Ralph hissed, clasping his hands together. He didn't notice that they were trembling.

Finally, it spoke. "There's a panel in this room with a camera. It can tell that there are robots in the room and won't let them out. You need to somehow convince it that everyone in here is a human being. And then you can escape."

Ralph smiled. "Whatever you say." He stood up, and was shocked to find everyone looking at him, frightened.

"Taken any pills lately?" Cave asked, his eyes dark.

"I'm fine," Ralph said. "Just... trust me."

"Because that's the logical thing to do," was his response.

The next thing he knew, Ralph had lunged at Cave and grabbed his shoulders. "I could be crazy," he said. "But right now... I'm your only hope. Sound logical?"

The frown on Cave's face told all. "Fine. What's your idea?"

"It's not entirely mine," Ralph insisted, "but here it is..."

* * *

"I can see you've been working very hard," GLaDOS2's voice announced to Chell from the speakers as she completed her test. "So I'm prepared to give you a break."

Chell frowned. Despite the fact that she could speak, she didn't feel like doing so; she was all too frustrated with her situation.

"Why don't you go to the elevator and we can chat in the break room?"

Suspicious, she did as told. GLaDOS's duplicate seemed extremely happy, and being perky wasn't exactly one of her trademarks. The elevator took her up for a while and on the way, Chell whistled the more cheery, radio edit of _Still Alive's _tune. She thought with a bit of amusement that it would work as elevator music here in Aperture's facility.

Arriving in the break room, Chell stepped out. It looked a bit like the fake hotel room she had stayed in before the apocalypse, taken up only by couches surrounding a coffee table; upon which were multiple bottles of water. She ran to an armchair and grabbed a water, drinking it gratefully.

"I'm GLaD you decided to have a chat," came GLaDOS2's voice again. "I just have a few questions for you. Like a survey, I suppose."

"If you're asking if we hate you, the answer's 'yes,'" Chell said curtly before taking another swig of water.

It took a while for the AI to respond. "I'm afraid that's not my question," she said when she finally did. The wall opposite Chell opened, disclosing a screen which displayed a man's picture. "I was wondering if you happened to know this man."

"Why do you ask?"

"I need his... services."

Chell snorted. "Good luck with that."

"So you do know him?"

Why had she said that? Now she knew. "Yes, and I'm afraid even if you ripped each one of his limbs off he wouldn't do a thing for you. He's been through a lot." She smiled darkly as she added, "Besides, he's got a... condition."

"What kind of condition?"

She had the power here; she could sense it. She leaned back in her chair and told her, "He can be delusional, if you know what I mean."

GLaDOS2's voice grew a bit colder as she said, "I'm afraid I DON'T. Please explain."

Maybe she had gone too far in her confidence. "Dementia is what I mean."

"Oh."

"Who knows what he could do if enraged? He's intelligent."

"Yes, I am aware of that." There was a brief pause. "Well, I suppose I'll move on, since that seems to be all you'll give me. Unless you can give me his name?"

"No idea," Chell told her. "I have a feeling he didn't give us his true identity."

"And what did he call himself?"

Chell looked at the screen, examining the man's expression. It was a sad look.

"Ralph."

"I see. Do you know what he did when he worked here?"

Chell frowned. "He worked here?"

"Don't worry, you've answered my question. Well, thank you for your time. You've been of immense use to me. And now I'm afraid it's time you went to sleep."

Chell's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

GLaDOS2 let out a giggle at her fear. "You humans are so amusing. You never suspected I might have tainted that water?"

Shocked, Chell looked into the empty bottle she was holding just as she began seeing double. She dropped the bottle and held her head, squeezing her eyes shut to make the world stop spinning. She fell to the ground and the last thing she heard before she slipped into darkness was, "Sleep well..."

* * *

"I hate bugs," Galaxa hissed, creeping into a shadowy corner.

"Well, doll, these ain't bugs. These here are mantis men."

She shot Rick a glare. "Don't call me 'doll.'"

"Alright."

One of the creatures tilted its head, clicking its pincers. The others responded with clicks as well.

"What do you suppose we do?" Rick whispered.

"How am I supposed to know?" was her incredulous reply.

There was only one sort of plan Rick could come up with. Well, two, but one of them was just his natural kick-butt attitude talking. This one was, "Kick their butts." The one least likely to get them killed was, "Stall for time."

Not very heroic, Rick had to admit, but it was the best he had.

He ran out in front of them. "Hey, stupid! Your mother was a... a..."

Hmm. How does one insult a mutant?

Despite the lack of wit in his statement, it attracted the mantis men's attention. One turned its cold, compound eyes at him and clicked its pincers. Then it lashed out at him with one of its claws, a blow Rick was able to avoid. He ran to a safe place and yelled again. The beast turned to him with its human legs and began to sprint after him. The others followed suit. "What're you gonna do? Huh?" he challenged.

Before the creature could reach him, however, there came another shout. "Ignore him, and come here! My meat's much tastier!"

The monsters heeded Galaxa's call and changed direction. Offended, Rick said, "My meat's FANTASTIC, thank you very much!"

There came an exasperated sigh from Galaxa. "Shut up and let me save your life! 'My meat's fantastic,' Lord have mercy..."

They couldn't stall forever, or the mantis men would eventually get to them; it was only a matter of time before they would realize that they could split up and take both of them at once. But how were they to get out of this situation? There were no weapons of any kind in the room. Not even a portal gun.

"Rick!" came Galaxa's voice. "Do you WANT me to get eaten?"

"Come here, you miserable excuses for science!" Rick yelled, running out into the open and waving his arms all around like a lunatic. "Come here where the action is! It's Explosion Day over here! Come and get Mr. Juicy!"

The nonsense got the stupid creatures to once again change direction and come after him, and as they did, Rick realized their one weakness. "They're like T-Rex!" he breathed, and yelled to Galaxa, "Trip them! Trip them!"

"What are we doing, playing pranks in the office?" she replied angrily.

"We would be if they had arms!" he said. "Watch!" As one of the mantis men ran toward him, he began to charge back at the experiment with a battle cry. Just before it reached him he darted to the side and stuck his foot out to trip it.

The monster let out an inhuman screech as it fell to the ground, and just as Rick had predicted... it could not rise. It wriggled, it rolled, it tried everything, but to no avail. "See here, they don't have proper arms, so they can't get themselves back up if they fall to the ground. Get it?"

"Look out!" she screamed in response.

The next thing he was aware of the second mantis man had scooped him up in its pincers and was trying to readjust its grip on him so that it could eat him comfortably. Realizing his mistake, Rick hung his head and braced himself. He was going to die, but hopefully Galaxa wouldn't be next. If she were, he was glad that he was going to be eaten first. "I sure am happy you gave me that kiss!" he cried out to her, and then grit his teeth in fear.

But instead of feeling pincers crush his head, he felt gravity work its wonders on him as he fell, still in the monster's grasp. As the mutant panicked, its grip on Rick loosened and he wiggled free just as they hit the ground. He scrambled away from the felled creature and lifted himself off the ground.

"Wow, am I really that heavy?" he said to himself, patting his belly. "I've really gotta cut back on the cake."

"It wasn't you," said a voice as someone put their hand on Rick's shoulder. "I took your advice."

He turned to see Galaxa, with a smug expression on her face. "Look at yourself, moron, you're not fat."

"Hey," he played along, "I'm not a moron."

He wrapped his arms around her. "Celebration kiss?"

They drew close to one another and their lips met.

And as they did the wall's panels moved aside to reveal GLaDOS2, looking right at them.

* * *

Just before the last incident took place however, the two GLaDOS models had been conversing.

"I've gotten the information I need," GLaDOS2 said triumphantly.

"From who, may I ask?" GLaDOS said, masking the shock which had appeared on her face during her revelation.

"Your friend, Chell. She told me everything."

GLaDOS knew she and this woman must have been similar, and this meant that they were both very proud people. Had something not been easy for her, she wasn't about to admit it. The ease with which GLaDOS2 had obtained her information was probably feigned.

"Chell isn't exactly a reliable source, I'm afraid."

"And why is that?"

GLaDOS tapped her head and mouthed the words _brain damage_. "You know how it is," she said. "Been in suspension for too long."

"I see."

GLaDOS sat down. "You don't mind if I ask you a question, do you?"

Her nemesis gave her an odd look. "Not... really."

"What was your human life like? Do you remember much?"

There was a pause as they both looked into each other's eyes.

"Why do YOU care?" GLaDOS2 asked.

Shrugging, she replied, "I'm just curious. Did you like it?"

GLaDOS2 avoided eye contact. "It was... alright, I suppose. I knew Mr. Johnson already, and that's how I got involved with Aperture. He had me working on a top secret project on the... well, in a top-secret area.

"And then our technology got stolen, so we all got fired. Everyone except me. For some reason Mr. Johnson didn't fire me, but instead put me to work on other things within Aperture. I couldn't thank him enough, and I told him so. But he told me that... one thing would be enough thanks for him."

"What was it?" GLaDOS murmured.

"No," was the other robot's reply. "No, I can't tell, I mustn't tell. I did what he told me to, and after a long series of events, I wound up here. In this body. So there you have it. My life story."

"You left a lot of gaps there," GLaDOS argued, "to call it your life story."

"There's a lot of classified information there. I'm sure you understand, _Caroline_."

"How do you...?"

"I know lots of things."

There was another period of silence.

"What were you like?" asked GLaDOS. "As a human, I mean."

Angrily, GLaDOS2 replied, "Why on Earth are you so interested in my human self? Is my robot self not interesting enough for you?"

"No, I was just curious as to whether you were different as a human. Concerning your... personality."

"I suppose I was a bit nicer, at the time. I... never really thought about it before."

Yet another agonizing silence.

"Well, nice talking to you, ugly," GLaDOS2 concluded, her voice malicious once again. "It would be nice if you had simply stopped breathing while we were talking. Now, I have things to do."

As she began to check on other things, GLaDOS frowned. If only she could let GLaDOS2 realize the truth. Maybe... just maybe... she could destroy the evil in her.

If only.

* * *

OH MY GOODNESS, it's posted! And you can all thank theminiyogurt for it, because he/she posted a review and reminded me that I actually had a story called Coreuption that needed to be updated. XDDD So yes, thank them! Sorry about the wait!


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